Set several new personal records yesterday; Happy 4th of July!

For my first mountain biking ride in two weeks I decided to go to Wekiwa and do a 8.4 mile ride. The route I selected has a nice mix of open trail with great scenery interspersed with semi-technical trails with plenty of roots (and some mud).

I decided before I set out to attempt a new personal record for the entire loop. Doing so meant I would get no rest breaks, and that I would have to really lay into the pedals the entire time. It’s quite a workout.

I did indoor training every day while the tropical storm was affecting us and also while my bike was out of commission, so I was not too worried about my cardio being off. My cardio did feel good, but the early stages of the ride were especially painful. It definitely took a few miles for me to re-acclimate to maintaining such a high heart rate.

I hadn’t been on my bike in two weeks, so I was surprised by how in tune I felt with it. I was cornering really well, and that made me feel great because corning is something I’ve been working very hard on lately.

Average heart rate was 184 bpm over 50 minutes; New maximum of 195 BPM hit.

The heat and humidity were oppressive, and definitely added another element of difficulty to the ride. The temperature was in the low 90s and not too bad, but the humidity made it feel much hotter than that.

The trails were pretty dry in most places (the sand was very dry), but there was still some standing water in low-lying areas (and lots of standing water just off the trails). I got a little wet and muddy, which I don’t mind. What I can’t stand, however, are the mosquitoes and horseflies; they were everywhere. I wear plenty of repellant (without it I’d be eaten alive), but by the end of the ride much of its effectiveness had been sweat away. I sustained a fair number of insect bites, but thankfully I found no ticks to pull off of me.

Side story–something rather amusing happened yesterday. I was riding along on a straight, open fire road. I guess I was doing about 12 MPH at the time. Suddenly a bumblebee appeared in front of me, right around chest level. The bee flew along about two feet in front of me, perfectly matching my speed. The unusual part was how long he stayed with me. I’d say it was at least 45 seconds, maybe even a minute. That was cool. 🙂

John Stone Fitness Comments

I dont understand how you can maintain that high of a heart rate that long John. My maximum heart rate is 188 and when I hit 180 doing HITT cardio I feel like I’m going to pass out if I go more than 30 seconds.

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